Application of an electric field to a gas, generally of a vacuum, to form a plasma of gas ions is a known technique for use in the polymerization of a variety of monomers. This technique has been described, for example, in Luster U.S. Pat. No. 2,257,177, Tobin U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,242, and a variety of other patents.
The class of phosphazene and carborane polymers are of potential practical importance because of their high temperature stability. In the past, techniques other than plasma polymerization have been employed to form polymers from phosphazene monomers. For example, heat, gamma rays, x-rays, and high energy electron excitation have been employed for this purpose. These techniques are not desirable because of the relatively high energy and power consumption required for polymerization. In addition, the yields by such polymerization techniques are relatively low. Carborane monomers have been copolymerized with other monomers such as organsiloxanes by the technique of condensation polymerization. However, there is no technique in the prior art which permits homopolymerization.